Director, SMB and Local Markets

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** JOB SUMMARY
** The
** Director, SMB and Local Markets
** will own a center of excellence (COE) focused on building programs, platforms and offers that help Choice Hotels and its franchisees sell to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Key responsibilities will include the design of direct-to-market digital storefronts for customers, new business intelligence and prospecting tools for franchisees, and the management of outsourced remote sales teams. The director will lead a team of 5-7 employees in addition to multiple vendor resources, and will be responsible for overseeing double-digit revenue growth targets on an annual base of ~$60M.#

** RESPONSIBILITIES:
***** COE Leadership & Strategy
**** Establish and lead the SMB & Local Markets COE: set vision, operating model, roadmaps and success metrics to scale SMB programs across Choice and franchisees.
* Define multi-year strategies to drive double-digit revenue growth, expand SMB wallet share and increase franchisee-led sales effectiveness.
* Works across Marketing, Distribution, and Advanced Analytics to assess market opportunities within SMB as well as competitive challenges and advantages.
* Provides formal and informal coaching, mentorship, and performance management to drive operational excellence and career growth for 5-7 COE employees.
*** Commercialization & Financial Accountability
**** Own P&L-relevant outcomes for the COE: revenue growth, unit economics, CAC, conversion, retention and margin on SMB programs.
* Develop monetization strategies for key franchisee-facing tools and platforms.
* Partner with Finance to build and maintain financial models, forecasts and scenario plans supporting program investments and vendor economics.
* Present regular performance reports and strategic updates to senior leadership, including growth opportunities and risk mitigation plans.
*** Platform Development & Management
**** Own the design, delivery and continual improvement of direct-to-market digital storefronts that make it easy for SMB customers to discover, book and manage stays.
* Partner with Product, Engineering, UX and Distribution to define platform requirements, prioritize features, and drive agile releases.
* Develop business intelligence, prospecting and outreach tools that empower franchisees to identify, target and convert SMB customers (e.g., lead lists, firmographic/behavioral scoring, outreach templates, CRM workflows).
*** Outsourced Remote Sales Management
**** Own the strategy, vendor selection, onboarding and performance management of outsourced remote sales teams that execute high-volume SMB outreach and conversion.
* Define KPIs, SLAs, scripting, training and QA processes for remote teams; monitor performance and drive continuous improvement through coaching and process changes.
* Ensure seamless handoffs between remote teams, franchisees and Choice operations to optimize customer experience.#
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* QUALIFICATIONS:

***** Employment Experience
**** 7+ years of progressive experience in product, channel, or commercial leadership with a significant focus the SMB segment, ideally within the travel or technology sectors
* Experience managing outsourced/remote sales functions and operating in a franchise or multi-owner environment strongly preferred
*** Technical Skills
**** Strong product and technical acumen: experience with e-commerce platforms, reservation systems, payment gateways, and CRM integrations (Salesforce preferred).
* Advanced Excel skills and comfort with analytics tools (Tableau, Power BI, SQL).
* Familiarity with marketing automation and lead-generation platforms preferred.
*** Additional Skills & Competencies
**** Ability to travel up to 10-20% to support franchise programs, vendor management, and market rollouts. #LI-REMOTE
* Strategic leader with strong commercial judgment, data-driven decision making, and an operator’s bias for execution.
* Excellent stakeholder management, written and verbal communication skills; comfortable briefing senior leaders and franchisee executive audiences.
* Strong project management abilities: able to run concurrent complex initiatives and manage cross-functional timelines and dependencies.
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